What is Genre?

Genre is a style or category of art, music, and literature and is a way of grouping films in terms of their themes such as horror, comedy and action. There are also Sub-Genres which are subdivisions of a genre of either literature, music or film. There is also something known as a Hybrid Genre which is the way in which two or more themes from different genres are blended together. Codes and Conventions are indicators or systems of signs which create meaning to the viewer as to what genre the film is. Genre Tropes are a specific type of music, film, or writing.

This is the very iconic image and poster that was used for the 1975 film Jaws. The picture that the makers of this film used immediately sends out the message to the viewers what type of genre this film relates to and an insight into what the story is going to be about; as the message is made quite clear and a lot of information can be taken from this photo. I really like the genre of this film, which is horror, and the well-known music that goes with it which is used throughout the film and when the great white shark is present.